• BoomTown, Wednesday, March 12, 2008 12:15 PM

Fears of an online ad recession couldn't come at a worse time for Yahoo. If Yahoo is to have any negotiating power at all in its bid to stay free of Microsoft, the Web giant can't afford to show any signs of weakness when it announces first quarter results on April 22nd.

We know that that plan isn't going to include News Corp., as Rupert Murdoch revealed earlier this week that his media conglomerate wasn't prepared to compete with Microsoft for the struggling Internet portal. It's only other alternative, it seems, would be a deal involving Time Warner's AOL, which becomes possible now that Time Warner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes has officially declared AOL on the block.

Even if no deal materializes, Yahoo shareholders are hopeful the company can negotiate a higher price tag than the $31 per share Microsoft originally offered. Weak quarterly earnings would give Yahoo far less bargaining room.

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